[Perspectives] Joan Marston: don’t forget the children

December 8, 2016

The Lancet 388, 10061 (2016)

Author: Dara Mohammadi

It was in the sun-dappled garden of Bloemfontein Hospice, South Africa, that Joan Marston decided to set up a hospice for children’s palliative care. She was walking with Refilwe, a baby who would die the next day. “I can still see her little eyes looking up at the trees and the light on the leaves”, says Marston, then a hospice nurse. “I remember hearing that she died and spending more time with Thabo.” Thabo, a 3-year-old orphan with HIV, was also visiting Marston for day care. “He had the most brilliant smile and just wanted to be part of everything that was going on.